Savory holiday stuffing with apples and sausage recipe

There is nothing boring about this holiday stuffing. The savory dish is bursting with all sorts of flavors such as sweet apples, spicy sausage and crunchy walnuts. This will put those old boring stuffing recipes to shame.

This is one of our favorite stuffing recipes. It incorporates a little bit of everything from sweet to savory and it’s literally full of flavor. What’s even better is that it can be made into a vegetarian/vegan dish with no hassles, keeping everyone at the dinner table happy.

Savory holiday stuffing with apples and sausage recipe

Serves 8

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound mild bulk breakfast sausage (for vegetarians or vegans you can substitute gimmie lean brand sausage crumbles)
• 4 tablespoons butter (or earth balance buttery spread)
• 2 small honey crisp apples or 1 large, cored and chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 cup dried cranberries, rehydrated in boiling water for 15 minutes and drained
• 6 cups bread cubes (or any type of bagged stuffing mix)
• 2 to 3 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Saute the sausage in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat about 10 minutes or until cooked through, crumbling with the back of a spoon. Remove and place on a plate lined with a paper towel.
3. Melt the butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add red onions, apples, celery and poultry seasoning to the skillet and saute until the apples and veggies are soft, about 8 minutes. Mix in the drained cranberries, sage and rosemary. Add the cooked sausage back to the pan mixing well.
4. In a large bowl add the stuffing mix or bread cubes. Add in the sausage mixture, salt and pepper, parsley and finally the vegetable or chicken stock. Toss everything very gently so that it does not become mushy. Place the mixture in a large casserole dish and sprinkle with the walnuts. Bake for 30 minutes or until the center is nice and hot. Allow to cool 5 minutes before serving.

More stuffing ideas

Easy herb stuffing
Apple almond stuffing
Vegetarian pumpkin with rice stuffing